[BA99TJ]

How many times have you said that you'd like to lose weight? How many times have you actually done something about it? The time is now! Throw away those excuses and take action.

Set a goal. Be realistic. Be healthy. Nobody can lose 100 pounds in a month, but you can make a plan that works for you.


Make a list of five of your failures, and ten of your achievements. How did your strategies work or not work? Describe how it felt and what you did to take action.

[Dyanm1]

How many times have you said that you'd like to lose weight? Is a Gazillion a number?

How many times have you actually done something about it? less than a gazillion!

The time is now! Throw away those excuses and take action.

Set a goal. Be realistic. Be healthy. Nobody can lose 100 pounds in a month, but you can make a plan that works for you.

My goal is to lose about 100 lbs in a year and keep it off!

Make a list of five of your failures, and ten of your achievements. How did your strategies work or not work? Describe how it felt and what you did to take action.

Failures:
1) Starvation
2) Nutri system
3) Jenny Craig
4)
5)
All the above, felt great when I had lost weight. W/ starvation, pretty much had instant gratification. Then fell into a deep depression for awhile after gaining all the weight lost and then some back. I've found that I can not eat specific portions, for long periods of time.

Achievments:
1) lost 25 pounds doing it my way
2) exercising 5 day a week
3)drinking more water than I ever thought I could

That's all I can think of, and I feel great! For me counting calories is a breeze for the most part. Even the label on chicken breast has the number of calories per breast. I drink my water first thing in the morning and when I exercise, I think a fourth of it comes back out through my pores! If my system isn't cleansed..... I truly believe that I have something that I can do for the rest of my life. After a while I'll probably know the calories by heart. I eat whatever I want, just as long as I stay in range, and I probably could lose alot faster if I ate, only the "good" stuff, but I know that I would binge every now and again and I don't want to do that.

[Charbar]

How many times have you said that you'd like to lose weight? How many times have you actually done something about it? The time is now! Throw away those excuses and take action.

I've been trying to lose weight off and on since I was about 16

Set a goal. Be realistic. Be healthy. Nobody can lose 100 pounds in a month, but you can make a plan that works for you.

I want to lose 100 lbs. I have broken this down into smaller "mini" goals:

200 lbs by 9/9/02
185 lbs by 11/26/02
maintain till 1/1/03

be at 135 next 4th of July - 2003

Make a list of five of your failures, and ten of your achievements. How did your strategies work or not work? Describe how it felt and what you did to take action.

Failures:
1/ joined ww just because of free registration - but I wasn't ready
2/ stopped exercising
3/ scheduled by my personal time around the tv schedule
4/ gave myself excuses - I quit because I'm pregnant! -
5/ compared my success/failure to others - I used that as an excuse to quit ("well they are fat and happy - so I quit" or "well they are so skinny - I couldn't keep that up - so I quite"

Achievements:

1/ I joined ww because it was time - and no other reason (ie. special event)
2/ I have set realistic, but challenging, goals
3/ I drink my water
4/ I only drink diet soda, not regular
5/ I look at this as being healthy - a balanced life - not a skinny life
6/ I try to get all my vitamins in - I love looking at vitamin A
7/ I exercise so much more - I am more active in general. ie. I don't have to have the closest parking spot!
8/ I am valuing myself more - I get my hair cut - eye brows waxed.. damn it, I'm worth it!!!
9/ I go to my ww meetings - I don't view them as something I have to do, but rather something I want to do - (my night out away from kid!)
10/ my sex life as improved - big time!! whohooo


Things are working this time because I have a different attitude towards myself. I am ONLY doing this for me. NO ONE ELSE. Sure some others get the benefit too.. but this is for me.


Dana

[snowball1]

How many times have you said that you'd like to lose weight?
~Nearly every day of my life up until joining weight watchers.

How many times have you actually done something about it? The time is now! Throw away those excuses and take action.
~Before now, just one time. I used starvation/purging to lose about 100 pounds. Well, I also tried Slim Fast, but failed miserably at it earlier this year.

Set a goal. Be realistic. Be healthy. Nobody can lose 100 pounds in a month, but you can make a plan that works for you.
~My goal is to weigh around 160-170. I would like to see those numbers around this time next year, but I will do it for as long as necessary.

Make a list of five of your failures, and ten of your achievements. How did your strategies work or not work? Describe how it felt and what you did to take action.

Failures:
1. Starvation
2. Purging
3. Slim Fast

None of these strategies worked for me at all. The starvation/purging worked, but it was unhealthy & I felt like crap all the time. When I gained it all back plus about 25-30 pounds, I felt HORRIBLE about myself. Slim Fast left me waaay to hungy, & I felt like a complete loser for not being able to follow their program (after all, the skinny people on their commercials did, why couldn't I?)

Achievements:
1. I have lost 51.8 pounds
2. I am exercising at least 5 of the 7 days of a week
3. I am drinking plenty of water (100+ oz. per day)
4. I am eating 5 servings of fruits & veggies per day
5. I am getting more fiber in my diet (which is important!)
6. I am taking the stairs more than I am taking the elevators
7. I have dropped my BMI from a very unhealthy 45 to 38.
8. I am losing weight in a healthy way & am committed to keeping it off this time!

I feel great about all of these achievements. It is taking time, & will take more time still to get to my major goals, but what I have done so far is an outstanding start. When I think about how much easier my joints have it with me weighing 50+ pounds less, it amazes me. My knees don't hurt when I'm walking up stairs anymore. I can walk more than 1/2 a block without getting winded. I FEEL better!

Thanks for posting this Beth Anne! I needed this!

[Jen]

How many times have you said that you'd like to lose weight? About a million

How many times have you actually done something about it? I've started a lot of diet and exercise programs but none of them have last more than a couple of weeks at the most, none of them were really all that serious either.

Failures: 1)eating when I am bored 2) eating stuff like cookies and crackers even when I have veggies and fruits available 3) using everything and everybody as an excuse not to exercise 4) thinking that I am healthy even when I know I am not 5) setting unrealistic goals

Achievements: 1) joining WW and using the points plan even though I am not going to the mtgs 2) walking practically everyday 3) drinking more water 4) trying to cook more low fat 5) getting out of the house when I know I am tempted by food 6) not letting my weight get in the way of doing what I want to do 7) not letting my weight depress me and affect my life negatively 8) forgiving myself for lapses and getting back on track as fast as I can 9) saying WHEN I lose weight not IF 10) remaining hopeful and not being satisfied to stay the weight I am.

How my strategies worked: I'm just going to sort of lump this one in altogether. I've found that a lot of my life is on automatic pilot, I just keep doing what I've been doing for the past several years. It is so hard to break out of the mold. I just have to keep reminding myself of what I am trying to accomplish. Thinking about being overweight has just never been something I do a lot of. I don't know if it is denial or what but I just don't dwell on it much. I'll have my moments when I get upset, like catching a glimpse of myself in a store window and not believing how fat I look. I think that is why I have failed so much in the past. For the longest time I just never thought I looked that bad, it's only been the past few years that I've been really upset with my appearance. I have to admit that there is a problem, then I can get on with losing weight.

[BA99TJ]

How many times have you said that you'd like to lose weight? about a gazillion!!
How many times have you actually done something about it? The time is now! Throw away those excuses and take action.

Set a goal. Be realistic. Be healthy. Nobody can lose 100 pounds in a month, but you can make a plan that works for you.

my goal right now is to be at my WW 10% goal, which is 252 by Labor Day (sept. 3rd)

Make a list of five of your failures, and ten of your achievements. How did your strategies work or not work? Describe how it felt and what you did to take action.

Failure #1: Weight Watchers in 2000.
Failure #2: Exercising so far.
Failure #3: Staying in Control at my mother in laws.
Failure #4: Staying 100% commited to this every day
Failure #5: Eating when I'm depressed.

Achievement #1: Meeting my Easter Goal
Achievement #2: Meeting my Mother's Day Goal.
Achievement #3: Losing 10% of my body weight
Achievement #4: Losing 25 Lbs.
Achievement #5: Losing 30 Lbs.
Achievement #6: Losing 35 Lbs.
Achievement #7: Not Starving myself.
Achievement #8: Learning how to negotiate better
Achievement #9: Learning how to make better food choices
Achievement #10: Going for a walk when I got bummed, rather than eating food!

Strategies that work for me:

Finding motivators: Pictures, Looking at the numbers.

The biggest key to success: Really doing this for ME instead of anyone else.

It feels SO good when I acheieve my goals, I really need to capture that feeling for all the time, instead of forgetting it!!

[LiamFanTami]

I love these sorts of things - don't know why except it makes me "think" about my plan.

How many times have you said that you'd like to lose weight?
Every day for the past 19 years

How many times have you actually done something about it?
Haphazardly started (with or without a plan) every Monday for 19 years

Make a list of five of your failures
1) Gaining all this without stopping to begin with
2) Losing and gaining the same 20 pounds for the last three years
3) Becoming a bit of a recluse - not entirely because of weight, but partly
4) Forgetting how to cook and becoming restaurant dependent
5) Allowing myself to fall into a daily rut that promoted the unheathy eating and weight gain


Ten of your achievements
1) Marrying a man who loves me in spite of my weight
2) Figuring out there was no magic bullet for me - no eat all you want of a certain type of food diet
3) Getting out and walking yesterday!!!
4) Having a certain measure of weight acceptance so that I'm not too depressed or given to attitude about it
5) Not having eaten in a restaurant for a week
6) Having prepared meals and/or had food available that hasn't had my DH suggesting we eat out for a week
7) Sneaking a peak at a picture of myself after not having looked at one in years - this was an achievement because it got me thoroughly digusted AND motivated
8) Creating a plan that I've used for 7 days and not been bored or spending time trying to figure out how to circumvent
9) Deciding on a hobby to replace eating
10) Giving up diet sodas (especially those with aspartame although for 4 days the withdrawal was horrible) and converting to water with a side trip for a glass of cranberry juice.

How did your strategies work or not work?
One week does not give me any room to answer about working strategies. As for those that didn't work, they were mostly based on the search for the magic bullet, or in this case, magic diet, that would let me continue the "live to eat" approach rather than the "eat to live" approach I'm now trying to take.